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Create NIH, NSF Biographical Sketch Reports

Updated on September 23, 2021.

Watermark Insights, the vendor for Watermark Faculty Success, updates the NIH and NSF Biographical Sketch reports and screens to reflect the current requirements from NIH and NSF. These reports enable faculty who apply for these grants to have the specific format needed to apply. 

Preparation for Running the Biographical Sketch Reports

In order for the reports to accurately pull the relevant records, updating of existing activity records or the entry of additional records may be needed to align with the criteria of the NIH and NSF Biographical Sketch reports. Specific information entered and saved in the following Watermark Faculty Success screens will feed into the reports and assist in ensuring fulfillment of the prescribed requirements for grant applications. 

Employment History

Both the NIH and NSF Sketches have sections for previous appointments/positions. The NIH Sketch further divides previous employment into academic and non-academic sectors which can be designated by the selection from the "Experience Type" field on the "Employment History" screen. 

Awards and Honors

The NIH Sketch contains a section for Honors. 

Education

The NIH and NSF Sketches both have sections for degrees and professional preparation. The month and year are both required in the "Date Completed" field for the NIH Sketch. 

Additionally, the NSF Sketch contains a section entitled Graduate Advisors and Postdoctoral Sponsors. These are entered in the "Education" screen under the "Advisor Information" section. 

Professional Memberships

The NIH Sketch report contains a section for Other Experience and Professional Memberships which will draw from the records entered on the "Professional Memberships" screen. The report will include any titles entered in the "Leadership Position Held" field. 

Directed Student Learning

The NSF Sketch contains a section for Thesis Advisor and Postgraduate-Scholar Sponsor. Saved records on the "Directed Student Learning (e.g., Theses, Dissertations, etc)" screen that contains the text "dissertation", "doctoral", "master", or "Postdoctoral Research Supervisor", will be included in the report.

Books, Journals and Other Text-Based Contributions

Publications that are peer-reviewed and have the current status of "accepted" or "published" will be included in an NIH or NSF Sketch report. 

An NIH specific field can be completed on the "Books, Journals, and Other Text-Based Contributions" screen. The field is labeled as "NIH: PubMed Central ID Number". 

Screenshot of Watermark Faculty Success screen to input Books, Journals, and other text base items for NIH.

An NSF specific field is included in the "Author" fields to identify an individual who is not a member of NMSU. The field is labeled as "NSF: Institution/Company". 

Screenshot of Watermark Faculty Success highlighting the NSF Instiution or company author of a text.

Contracts, Grants, and Sponsored Research - ARGIS 

The NIH Sketch contains grant and other funding records under the Research Support section of the report. ARGIS records will be available for use if the current status is "funded" or "closed". You will be able to select a precise list of relevant grants on the "Biographical Sketch - NIH|NSF" screen. 

NOTE: All ARGIS information is updated by the Vice President of Research's office. Please reach out to ovpr@nmsu.edu or visit https://research.nmsu.edu/argishelp.html if you feel information on your screen is incorrect or missing. 

Sponsorship, Other Funding - Non ARGIS

The NIH Sketch contains grant and other funding records under the Research Support section of the report. Non ARGIS records will be available for use if the current status is "funded". You will be able to select a precise list of relevant grants on the "Biographical Sketch - NIH|NSF" screen. 

Preparing the Biographical Sketch - NIH/NSF Screen

The "Biographical Sketch - NIH|NSF" screen is located under the "Scholarship and Creative Activities" section. It is fairly self explanatory and a careful reading of the screen directions and help texts will ensure usable Sketch report(s). The screens are designed to be flexible and used differently than the majority of the other screens in the system. It should not be used to collect an historical record of selections for Biographical Sketch reports. Instead, it should always be used with current needs in mind, to record and reuse selections that can feed one or more Biographical Sketches for upcoming grant proposals.

Screenshot of the Watermark Faculty Success Activities screen highlighting the Biographic Sketch- NIH | NSF option.

Running the NIH, NSF Biographical Sketch Reports

The "Biographical Sketch" reports for the individual logged into the Watermark Faculty Success system can be accessed by running a "Rapid Report". Learn how to run a Rapid Report. If you are running the Biographical Sketch as a College Liaison for someone else in the system, run it as a "Report". 

How to run the report for either method:

  1. Follow the steps listed on the Run Reports page
  2. Select the desired Sketch Report.
  3. Enter the Start Date for the earliest job/appointment that will be included in the Employment History section. The End Date can be a current or future date depending upon the dates saved on records. 
  4. (optional) Select additional filters.
  5. Select the file format the report should be downloaded as. 
  6. Click "Run Report" and the report will download and be saved to your device.